The present invention relates generally to the fabrication of corrugated paperboard products, and in particular relates to a method and apparatus for designing and fabricating prototypical corrugated paperboard structures on-site.
Foldable, corrugated “point of purchase” (POP) display stands have been used widely in the advertising and retail businesses for displaying announcements and merchandise for sale to consumers. POP packaging is also necessary when introducing a given product on the commercial market. POP displays and packaging are typically formed from corrugated paperboard, which is an inexpensive and efficient method of mass production. However, transitioning from the initial design to final assembly using conventional techniques can be tedious and time consuming.
In particular, a number of steps must be performed in order to advance from the conception stage of a commercial product to the point where the product is ready to be introduced in the marketplace. All of these stages, such as the design phase, prototype manufacturing, product testing phase, and market testing phase, consume valuable time. Once all these phases have been satisfactorily completed, it then becomes desirable to introduce the product to the commercial market as soon as possible. The final phase, then, is the design and fabrication of point-of-purchase (POP) displays and packaging for the product. It should be appreciated that time dedicated to the POP displays and packaging delays the prompt introduction of the product to the marketplace.
It is thus desirable for the designer and manufacturer of POP displays and packaging to arrive at a prototype suitable for its customer's product as quickly as possible. Conventional methods include obtaining general design specifications and dimensions of displays and packaging from the customer, and subsequently designing and fabricating a prototype. The prototype is then shipped to the customer for review and testing. Typically, the customer will demand that changes be made to the initial design. Additional time is thus needed for the manufacturer to revise, fabricate, and ship the revised design for review. The process of fabricating a suitable prototype typically requires several iterations of design, fabrication, review, and modification before the packaging and displays are approved to be mass-produced, it being appreciated that each iteration requires time consuming travel or transportation of the proposed prototype. Furthermore, communicating the necessary revisions can prove difficult when the manufacturer and customer are disposed at remote locations, or the input of several different departments (e.g. marketing, purchasing, production) of the customer are required to produce a suitable prototype design.
What is therefore needed is a method and apparatus for increasing efficiency between a manufacturer and a customer when designing and fabricating suitable POP displays and packaging.